Amid the infighting in Punjab Congress, discontent is brewing in its Haryana unit as well. Reportedly, Haryana Congress seems to be divided into groups--one comprising former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and the other of party's state unit chief Kumari Selja.
On Monday, 22 Congress MLAs from the state met party's General Secretary KC Venugopal in the national capital. According to an NDTV report, the MLAs sought a "bigger role" for Hooda and the removal of Selja. The Congress has 31 MLAs in the state.
The MLAs said they were being ignored by Selja as well as the organisation. And they also raised the issue that the party does not have district unit chiefs for the last eight years, which was interfering with its grassroot-level expansion, the report added.
"We discussed organisational matters pertaining to the state unit as for many years district unit presidents have not been appointed. political situation in the state in the backdrop of ongoing farmers' agitation, upcoming panchayat polls. all these issues were discussed," news agency PTI quoted Congress MLA Kuldeep Vats as saying.
Four days ago, 19 Congress MLAs from Haryana had met AICC general secretary and party's Haryana affairs in-charge Vivek Bansal in Delhi seeking a "strong leadership" for the party in the state and favouring a key role for Hooda, reported PTI.
Meanwhile, Reacting to the meeting of the legislators with Bansal, Selja on Friday had said, "The MLAs can meet their party in-charge. I don't see any indiscipline if party legislators go and meet the party's state unit in-charge and say something. It is their right. Bansal sahab later clarified what the meeting was all about."
Selja had also separately met the senior leadership of the party after the legislators' meeting with Bansal on Thursday. On Friday, she also met Venugopal.
This comes in the wake of Congress' organisational reshuffle in Haryana. The party had dismantled district Congress committees in the state in 2015 and now it has reportedly decided to organise them.
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
